HP zd7000 display...is it me or what???

Hi.

My husband purchased this notebook as a Christmas present and I really like it. It has the expansion base with the wireless keyboard and mouse. It is running on Windows XP Professional with a 17" flat monitor with GE Force FX Go5700.

My problem is the display. When I started it up for the first time, it was so tiny I could barely read it so I changed it to 1024 x 768, which is what we use for our desktops. It is blurry and seems stretched horizontally.

I have a website and I compared it side by side with my other two computers (desktops). Where I have have fonts that are plain times new roman, it is display bold and stretched on the notebook. Since I will be using this computer to edit my website, I really need it to display properly. I have tried changing settings, but cannot get it to look right. It seems to diplay the same font on all emails, websites, etc. It just seem to read what is trully there.

Is this something that is native to notebooks, or is there a setting I can change.

I know it is using cleartype, but when I tried to change to standard, I could almost count the dots, so that's not an option.

With all the rave reviews this notebook received, I would expect a crystal clear display.

I have tried a dvd and the image was very good.

If I can't get this resolved, I'm afraid I'll have to send it back. I really don't want to do this, so I thought I'd check with you all to see if there is something I'm missing.

Thanks in advance!

 

I think I know what your problem is. I don't know what resoltution you ordered your computer with but its a widescreen I'm sure. Whatever its maximum resolution is will provide you the most clear picture. I know what you mean about the test being very small, I've owned machines with a high res screen and they are sharpe but hard to read. You can change the size of text which I would recommend over changing the res to 1024X768. First off this res (1024X768) is for a standard monitor not a widescreen like you have this is part of the reason you will have blur and stretching. The other reason is that on LCD monitors like all notebooks have any res other then the maximum will cause some blur. A standard CRT (tv like monitor) can change how many pixels (dots) it displays to make it always sharpe. The LCD always has the same number of pixels so when you change the res to a lower number its still the same dots being redrawn to look like a lower res. Your best options are to increase the test and icon size, or increase the DPI in the settings. Or you could lower the resolution like you have done but use a widescreen resolution. example: (1280X800) that is a widescreen. I'd list you more but that is my screens only widescreen settings I can view. I think you should change the windows font though. RIght click on an open area of your desktop and go to properties. Then go to the apperence tab. On this screen you can change the windows font from normal to large to extra large. Please try that and let us know if it helps. Remeber to return your monitor to its max res for it to look sharpe and to test out the new text sizes. Another thing I do for my eyes is in internet explorer I click the view menu and change the text size to its highest and I'm happy.

Compaq R3000T (CTO)
P4 Desktop 3.0GHz w/HT
2 X 1024MB RAM
Radeon 9600 128MB
60GB 7,200RPM HD
AquaMark3: 24,257, 3DMark03: 3,115

 

1. Absolutely: leave your display at native (highest available) resolution. LCD don't look good with non-native res. Don't forget to turn the "clear style" effect off!!! It makes fonts blurry.

2. Go to Display properties in wodows (aka windows), go to Appearance and change the default fon/icon sizes to extra large or large.

3. Tweak your programs such as Mozilla to use large fonts in menus and in text windows. (In Mozilla, you can tweak the user/chrome settings so that it starts up using large fonts as default. No such trick with IExplorer.



I have SXGA+ LCD and I love it. If you tweak the default sizes, you'll be happy and never go back to the XGA (768x1280) LCD.

 

Thanks for the excellent suggestions!

Yes, it is a widescreen and you are right, the resolution is definately sharper and crisper at the default setting. I went back to that setting and then changed the dpi. I just wish I could choose another font besides arial. When I changed to large fonts, I didn't like the way it looked. I also played around with changing the "view" on the taskbar for msn and IE. That made a big difference. I just wish it would use another font for viewing my list of emails, etc. I can't stand the look of that font. I really like Times New Roman. I know I can change it for some windows content, but not for that.

As far as colors go on this notebook, should I leave that at default as well. I changed it because when I viewed my website, it appeared washed out and I could barely see the backgrounds, yet the darker images such as a french sign that had texture was much too dark. I changed the colors and fooled with it quite a bit, but I'm wondering if I should have done that based on my website.

So I guess given the choice you would stick with the notebook? I always had it in my head that I had to give up a lot to have one. I am impressed by how fast this thing is. It boots up in no time and loads web pages extremely fast.

Thanks again!

 

In trying to decide if I should keep the notebook and try to tweak the display, I wonder if I'd have the same problems with a desktop. I would definately order the widescreen monitor for the desktop, so would I have the same issues?

Also, if anyone owns a zd7000, please let me know your settings and which driver you are using. I upgraded the driver, then tried the original one to see the differences.

I have to decide what to do within the next day or so, to stay within the 30 days.

Thanks in advance.

 

Thanks a good idea.

As far as the colors. Since I am not used to an LCD and I've only seen the ones in the stores (aquarium screen savers) and they looked beautiful, I'm a bit disappointed. I don't know if there is something wrong with my monitor or if it's just something to get used to.

The best way I can describe it is that I have to try to force it to show the colors more vibrantly. To me it seems shallow. I have tried changing all of the colors via the Nvidia FX5700 control panel and cannot seem to get it the right contrast and brightness and it is not rich at all.

It seems more to me like a dim monitor that I am try to force to become lighter. I believe my husband ordered the top of the line bright view.

Thanks

 

As far as screens go if you have a widescreen then you cant really get a better LCD then that. The main reason is widescreen is new and they all have better viewing angles and were produced more recently. A standard monitor might be a design from a few years ago and rarly have the same viewing angles the widescreen will. Something I did that you should weigh carefully is returning the model for the same one with a lower resolution screen to increase font size. This was far from my only reason for my return but when I ordered another computer it had a lower res of 1280X800 which i find to be perfict on my 15.4 widescreen.

Compaq R3000T (CTO)
P4 Desktop 3.0GHz w/HT
2 X 1024MB RAM
Radeon 9600 128MB
60GB 7,200RPM HD
AquaMark3: 24,257, 3DMark03: 3,115